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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Pivoting a Dart

Hey, do you all know how to pivot a dart? It's super easy and fun. Remember my stripey dress, where I pivoted the dart to the center front seam to create a chevron effect?

Here's the bodice with arrows to indicate the dart placement. These are the only darts on the front bodice.

I got this effect by moving the original dart (which was at the waist) to the center front seam, radiating diagonally to the bust apex.

Here's a miniature of the original pattern piece. (It's actually just a hand drawn piece, so don't look at it for accuracy!) It's best to do this with the seam allowances removed. This way the seam allowance will not interfere with your drafting.

See how the waist dart closes to form a three dimensional shape?

Darts on a bodice can be anywhere, as long as they are radiating from the bust apex. Got that? An easy way to move the dart to another point is to pivot the dart.

Start by putting your pattern piece on top of a new, clean piece of paper. Make sure you have your apex marked. Update: the bust apex isn't necessarily the end point of the dart, since darts usually stop short of the apex of the bust. In patternmaking, you usually work with a dart that ends at the apex and then, once the dart pivoting is complete, shorten the legs by about 1/2" to 1" so the dart doesn't end right on top of the bust, creating a pointy effect. Check your pattern (fold the darts and hold it up to your body) to make sure that you're working from the apex, which is the fullest point of the bust.

Now, mark your new dart placement. The red arrow indicates where I want my new dart to be. It will radiate diagonally to the bust apex.

Start tracing at the left leg of your old dart. I'm using a green Sharpie here. Continue in a clockwise direction, until you get to your new dart placement point.

Now, place a pin or awl (something pointy) into the dart apex so that it doesn't shift.

Pivot the pattern piece to the left so that the right leg of the original dart reaches the point where you started tracing. You've essentially closed up the original dart.

Now you can continue tracing where you left off on the original pattern piece. My new tracing line is in purple. End when you meet up where you started (in green marker here).

Remove the pattern piece. See that open space on the center front seam? That's your new dart!

Use a ruler to draw new dart legs, connecting them to the apex point.

There you have it! Next you should add seam allowances back. Update: you will also need to shorten the dart by about 1/2" to 1" so the endpoint isn't right on top of the bust. Close up the dart and trace over it with a spiky wheel to get the shape of the seam allowance on the dart body. Straighten up any lines that might have gotten wonky, like the waistline (where the old dart used to be).

Make sense? You can move your dart anywhere: neckline, shoulder seam, French dart. As long as it radiates toward the apex, you're good.

If this is hard to visualize, I would suggest having a go of it with a bit of paper shaped like a pattern piece. It will make sense once you've tried it, I promise.

Thank you so much for this Gertie! I'm currently taking a pattern-cutting course at college and last week we were shown how to move darts. For some reason it didn't sink into my brain though and I was so confused...your method seems so simple! Must give it a go ;o)

That is amazing. So clear, practical and easy to understand. I have so many draping books where I read the instructions and my brain just shuts down... This however makes me want to try it out right now!

This is why I love the Social Media, exchange of ideas. Really helpful to see it in 3D. It works well for me as a visual person. I've been reading a lot of you early blogging and it is a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for sharing.

Hi, Gertie - Long-time reader, first-time commenter here. I just wanted to say thank you. I am a novice at best, but your descriptions and tutorials are so clear and the results so beautiful I'm inspired to continue improving my skills. Thanks!

I don't really understand this and here's why. The original dart points toward the bust point and the apex lies on that line about 1" distal to it. The rotated dart, created by pivoting at the dart apex, changes where the bust point would be (and the bust point should be stationary). I would argue that the dart apex should be located by drawing a line from the point on your FC (front center) seamline where you want your dart legs to end, to the bust point and then locate the dart apex 1" from the bust point on that line. Then the dart legs could be drawn to either side of that line to the desired depth. In your picture, the red arrows indicate a dart pointing above your bust point. I guess this is just a long way of saying the rotation should occur at the bust point, not at the bust apex. I think.

Wendybee, I've always learned that you should pivot from the apex. The apex is a fixed point. I'm not really sure I understand the distinction you're making between the bust point and apex. As far as I understand it, there's the apex (which is always the same) and then the dart ends about 1" away from there. That 1" point will change depending on where your dart comes from (shoulder, center seam, etc).

bettytor, don't be frustrated! Everyone is at different levels and I try to provide something for everyone. Maybe in a year or so you'll be ready to come back to this post. :)

Ooh, this is perfect timing! I'm making a similar dress in a stripe and I might just try this technique. I have another question about grain lines and the front stripes. When cutting the front pieces, it looks like you position the slope of the neckline such that it runs parallel with the stripes? Is that correct?

Yay pivoting darts is super fun! Since you're showing some flat pattern fun, you should show everyone how to also combine a side dart to a waist dart, since that would be the starting point from a sloper too! My absolute favorite part of this tutorial is seeing that the pattern is miniature when compared to your hands. It

Ha! Its funny because I have just spent two days of class (so far) pivoting darts etc. We were also discussing how we had never seen a front dart like the one used in your dress. A great excuse to show photos of your dress to everyone to prove otherwise! Great dress, I love how you used the dart to shape the dress.

Wow! Thanks so much for such a great tutorial. I finally got a basic bodice pattern to a perfect fit (it has one dart at the waist) and now I can use your tutorial to create different designs with the same pattern. Thank you!

Wow, Gertie! I think this is the best illustration of the pivot-method of dart manipulation I've ever seen! :) Thank you so much for sharing it with us! :) (And once again: that striped dress is sooo cute!)

Wow, Gertie! I think this is the best illustration of the pivot-method of dart manipulation I've ever seen! :) Thank you so much for sharing it with us! :) (And once again: that striped dress is sooo cute!)

I learned this waaay back in high school but I think we only spent a few classes on pattern drafting. Didn't learn much. Now I am in pattern drafting classes and the instructor has only been using the "slash open and glue" method. That method is really fun as well! But I can see why sometimes you might need to use the pivoting method.

You absolutely look stunning in your blue dress! It's great to know that you've posted some tips on how to create a chevron effect on a beautiful dress! Oh by the way, your hair looks gorgeous too! You're such an inspiration! :)

Hi Gertie. Just wanted to say a massive thanks for this tutorial. I'm making my Momma a regency dress and needed to do an FBA on it which created a dart I didn't want. I used your tutoria to rotate it into the gathered section at the bottom and it worked perfectly. Thank you so very much!!!!

i am really impressed by this. the creativity to get the chevron effect. you also explained the pivoting really well. will definitely check out more of this blog as i am totally clueless about sewing but want to make my own patterns, or at least adjust.xx